Principal's Message

Headlines - Please Note

We encourage you to read this entire newsletter as lots of effort has been put into its production.  Here are the most urgent and important details to read in this edition (not just on this first page):

1. New Device Policy (this page)
2. Happy Diwali (this page)
3. Prep 2026 Enrolments (School Leaders Page)
4. Leaving in 2025/2026? (School Leaders Page)

Principal's Message

Welcome to the start of Week 3, Term 4. We are off to a flying start and the students are doing so well. We are very proud of them. I got to see them all at Friday's assembly and it was so lovely. They are wonderful audience members - so respectful.

We are having a blitz on Manners. We do blitzes each term. We do them not because the students are lacking in something. We do them because they are ideas that matter to us. Manners matter to us - they are the glue that hold our community together. They are the currency of kindness. And Community is one of our three values.

The way parents display manners at the front door each day is amazing. You politely ask your children to say good morning, to look me in the eye, to respond with a clear voice and smile, to say something kind, and to generally represent yourselves as excellent role models (with your own lovely smiles and waves). In the next few weeks, each class will forward to me the name of a Manners Champion. This person will be invited to a special morning tea with me where I will celebrate their kindness and community spirit. I can't wait! I just love manners and respect; and this community is the best I have ever experienced anywhere in the world. Anywhere!

I have a piece about 'Restrictions on Devices' below. I ask that you read it carefully as it outlines my position on the topic. I hope you can open your mind to help understand my perspective, regardless of your own views. We all see the world differently, and I accept that. 

Have a lovely week. I am off to the Year 5/6 Camp on Tuesday (the whole group goes down for three days at the start of the week). I wish them well. I wish you well. 

Restrictions on Devices - New Policy

You may have heard in the media about a new state government policy starting in 2027 regarding the restricted use of devices in Primary Schools. We had ABC media out the front of the school last week garnering opinions from our community regarding this policy announcement. 

Being an employee of the Department of Education, I am unable to offer critique of any policies. I am the agent charged to adopt them in schools.  I found out about the policy via the media before it was released to principals later on the same day in print. I was then contacted by ABC on that day informing me of the vox pop piece they planned on our doorstep.

My views, unrelated to the usefulness of policies, or the means by which they are distributed, follow in the commentary below. 

I am solidly in the "for" camp of banning social media of all kind for children of primary school age. Young brains are not yet able to disseminate healthy and unhealthy social contact via an online presence. I can't entertain any logic that argues otherwise. Certainly, under direct adult supervision, some social media tools are useful for families and friends to maintain contact over distance. The sight of babies and young children being 'entertained' by mindless games to keep them pacified is objectionable and I think it rewires the mental circuitry in ominous ways with outcomes that cannot be predicted. Placing primary aged children in their rooms in an unsupervised fashion while they click away mindless on games is in the same camp - an anathema to social and emotional development. In these contexts, screen time is deleterious to mental, psychological, social and emotional health. 

It sounds like I am all in for banning screen time, right?

Wrong.

The issue I see is that screen time is used as a catch-all to describe any negative aspects of owning and using a device. This is a conflation and the argument breaks down if we ban screens for students in all circumstances. 

Imagine your child owning a bike. Further imagine them riding that bike under the direct supervision of an adult in a sunny park on a bike path where the express goal is learning to ride safely to enjoy a lifelong pursuit of fitness and fun. 

Brilliant!

Now imagine the same bike and child being let loose independently on the M1 Freeway and being told to "go for it, you'll be OK." Insane, right? No reasonable adult would allow that to occur. 

Let's apply that analogy to devices. 

Let's show the child how to log on. Let's allow him endless time in his room, unsupervised, to be alone, in a cold, dark space clicking on games that lead nowhere and use up valuable time where he could be playing happily in the park with friends on a sunny day. Let him connect with adults pretending to be children and have those adults pollute the child's young mind with evil ideas and concepts way beyond his age-appropriate psychology to process.

Now let's imagine a classroom where the children are asked to log onto an app for ten minutes to practise automatic maths skills which require repeated exposure each day to master. Let's have the teacher viewing all students' screens and then choosing students who struggle with a concept to assist them to overcome their barrier in a small focus group. Let's imagine the teacher setting the difficulty level at the just-right state and assisting students to set their own goals. Let's allow the software to report back progress in real time. And let's imagine those students dealing with mathematical content that is at a Year 7 level (if the child is able) when the child is in Grade 2. Let's report that progress to the families at the end of each term so parents are informed of their child's level and can help where it is needed.

What I have described in that paragraph is real life at SMPS. Do we want that screen time banned? 

Maybe you do. That's OK - but what is the alternative? Give all students the same work even though they are all at different levels? Have the teacher stay back each night till 7pm to photocopy pieces of paper? Have no eyes on progress for the parents? And all of this for the sake of reducing screen time in controlled circumstances? To what end? So we can say we solved the problem of too much exposure to social media which will occur in  households and not in the classroom?

SMPS bats well above its weight in student outcomes. Our NAPLAN results are the envy of most schools. We have visitors coming from all points of the globe to examine what we do - what the secret sauce is that leads to student success. There is no one answer of course. It is a combination of ingredients that makes the best dish. A single spice won't do it. But when a single spice is taken away, it deteriorates the taste and the dish is never quite the same. For some schools, any change in device use will cause little to no effect. Sadly, some are mired in mediocrity as it is. We aspire to excellence. The ingredients matter. Devices are an important part of our approach which has led to excellent outcomes for students. Their life chances are enhanced as a result of the program we offer at SMPS. And that program has devices in it. 

My hope is that any change we make is for the better - not for the worse. Why would anyone choose to go backwards? I like to run a school that makes sense. I hope we can continue to do that in future times.

Student Placement into 2026 Classes Process

• In early Term 4, staff will begin drafting 2026 class placements. Teachers have not yet been assigned to grades; that process will occur later once staffing is confirmed.
• Parents cannot request specific teachers for their child. We trust our staff and expect only minor, relevant feedback from families.
• As part of our value of Community, parents may share information that could support their child’s academic or wellbeing outcomes. This is not for expressing teacher preferences. Past feedback from families has been thoughtful and appreciated.
• Please do not ask, “Can X student be with their friend Y student?” Students are given the chance to select 5 preferred students in the year level, and we aim to match them with at least 1 of these preferences. (We cannot promise this, but it would be rare that we are unable to match them with at least 1 preference).
• Please also inform us of any relevant family relationships (e.g. cousins in the same year level), as surnames are not used to group students. 
• If you’ve made requests in previous years, please resubmit them, past feedback is not retained as circumstances can change from year to year.
• A feedback window will be open from Saturday, October 11 to Friday, October 24 at 3:30pm. Submissions must be:
  • Written only, sent to south.melbourne.ps@education.vic.gov.au
  • Subject line: Attention Mr. Noel
  • Acknowledged via reply email
• Feedback outside this window will not be accepted unless under exceptional circumstances. All students will be placed using the same fair process and timeline.
• Thank you for your support.

Happy Diwali

Many community members of South Melbourne Primary School celebrate Diwali this week. The celebration is also known as the Festival of Lights, to symbolise good triumphing over evil. It is a time of joy, light, and togetherness.  

We recognise and join in on the excitement of the event by creating rangoli chalk art on the forecourt pavement. Have a look as you walk into the school grounds on Monday, 20th October. 

We wish the students, families and staff of SMPS participating in this celebration a very happy Diwali!